Syndeo's 'Mobile Telephony Console' Lets Users Take Advanced Class 5 Services With Them as They Travel.

Business Editors/High-Tech Writers

Comnet 2001 - Booth No. 4202

WASHINGTON, D.C.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan. 30, 2001

New Java Applet, an Option to Syndeo's Syion 426 Softswitch,

Provides Laptop-based Web Interface for

Transferring Services to Any Convenient PSTN Phone

The ability for a user to take his advanced telephone services with him wherever he travels -- just by entering a few commands on a laptop-based web screen -- is now available with Syndeo's Syion 426(TM) IP-based Class 5 softswitch platform.

Syndeo's new Mobile Telephony Console (MTC), an optional adjunct to the Syion 426, is a downloadable Java applet that enables all 26 of Syndeo's Class 5 services to go anywhere with the mobile user. Any convenient PSTN phone can automatically be equipped with the calling services the user regularly enjoys on his office phone, including blocking or accepting of calls based on contact-based preferences and distinctive rings for specified callers.

Running currently on all Java-enabled browsers -- but ultimately on any virtual Java machine, including PDAs -- the software is activated from any remote location via the web using simple commands on the mobile user's MTC screen.

Jeff Paine, Syndeo vice president of marketing, said, "Any Syion softswitch customer now can use this powerful mobility tool to put call control and provisioning directly into the hands of tens of thousands of end users. Though users manage their calls and configure their preferences over the Internet via a web-based interface, the services are actually transferred to the PSTN bearer channel, so that voice quality is maintained along with all the advanced features. A major benefit of this approach is that calling features can use a low-bandwidth network connection, such as a dial-up 28-Kbps modem connection, without voice quality degrading as it can with VoIP calling systems that are restricted to the Internet channel."

Real-time Call Control, Preference Configuration in the Hands of Users

Via the Mobile Telephony Console web interface, the user has at his disposal a comprehensive set of real-time call control and preference configuration features.

With Syndeo real-time call control, the phone number is input on the keyboard or pulled up via the user's address book, but the call is connected using the telephone rather than the computer. From the screen the user also can activate call waiting ID, caller ID blocking and real-time send to voice mail (the screen displays an incoming call's phone number and the user can take the call or hit a button sending it to voice mail).

MTC preference configuration functions let the user establish instructions based on caller identity (e.g., accept or block call, identify call with distinctive ring); have a single phone number that goes with him everywhere and rings on any phone he selects; use an "address book" to store contact information for provisioning; drag and drop phone numbers from the address book into call-preference fields; access a unified messaging screen displaying new messages; and establish parental control of 900, 976 and international calls.

Example: Bringing Home Your Full-Featured Telephone System

Take the example of an executive whose company uses a Syion 426 system. One day the executive has a sick child and decides to work from home. He logs onto the MTC on his laptop and registers his home phone as his office phone; all calls to his office phone now ring at home, and the home phone number has all the calling features he is accustomed to at the office. Having to meet a deadline, he does not wish to be disturbed except by the most critical calls. So he sets up a "block list" that sends all incoming calls to voice mail except those from numbers identified with his boss and his wife; to those calls he assigns distinctive rings. Going to check on his child, he misses a call from his boss. Checking the call log upon his return, he can drag the phone number from there into the MTC's calling field to dial the return call.

The MTC also has been designed to be customizable by carriers and service providers. For example, the system automatically displays only the specific services for which each customer has signed up with the carrier. Additionally, the user interface's look and feel can be easily customized with carriers' logos and color schemes to support branding efforts.

Pricing and Availability

The Mobile Telephony Console is currently available to customers of the Syion 426 softswitch. List prices range from $21.00 to $4.50 per subscriber, depending on the number of subscribers.

Syndeo Corporation was formed in 1999 to help broadband local-loop carriers better manage, differentiate and profit from service offerings as they move to next-generation converged voice-over-IP (VoIP) and voice-over-ATM (VoATM) networks. The company's Syion 426 Local Exchange Platform replaces Class 5 switch functionality from the traditional PSTN, combining Class 5 features with robust unified messaging and a carrier-grade softswitch platform that scales to millions of subscribers. Providing primary-line services over DSL, cable and fixed wireless broadband access networks, the Syion 426 lets carriers deliver such regulatory services as emergency lifeline, operator and lawful intercept. Services can be delivered to any phone or IP-enabled terminal, including "softphones," IP phones, PCs (through Netscape, Microsoft Outlook or NetMeeting) and PDAs.

Syndeo is privately held and has raised $23 million in funding from Redpoint Ventures, Brentwood Venture Capital and Thomas Weisel Partners. The company gained ISO 9001 Quality System Standard certification in March 2000. For more information, call 408-861-1000 or visit Syndeo's web site at www.syndeocorp.com.